Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Elbit Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ:ESLT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,747 shares of the aerospace company's stock, valued at approximately $1,999,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Elbit Systems by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 987 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Elbit Systems by 196.3% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 160 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Elbit Systems by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,534 shares of the aerospace company's stock worth $907,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Elbit Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Elbit Systems by 1.7% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 10,351 shares of the aerospace company's stock valued at $2,071,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 17.88% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Elbit Systems from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th.

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Elbit Systems Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of ESLT stock traded up $1.93 on Thursday, hitting $390.16. 54,868 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 35,743. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 1.15. Elbit Systems Ltd. has a twelve month low of $175.30 and a twelve month high of $420.00. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $338.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $273.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.34 billion, a PE ratio of 66.69 and a beta of 0.53.

Elbit Systems (NASDAQ:ESLT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 18th. The aerospace company reported $2.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.71. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.78 billion. Elbit Systems had a net margin of 4.00% and a return on equity of 11.34%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Elbit Systems Ltd. will post 8.05 EPS for the current year.

Elbit Systems Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 5th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 22nd will be given a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. This is a positive change from Elbit Systems's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 22nd. Elbit Systems's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.72%.

Elbit Systems Profile

Elbit Systems Ltd. develops and supplies a portfolio of airborne, land, and naval systems and products for the defense, homeland security, and commercial aviation applications primarily in Israel. The company operates through Aerospace, C4I and Cyber, ISTAR and EW, Land, and Elbit Systems of America segments.